Baby Carrier

ABSTRACT

A baby carrier comprising a harness which includes a baby carrying pouch and which comprises a flexible sheet-like front piece that has an upper edge part which can be folded about a generally horizontal fold axis between a first position in the sheet-like surface of the front piece and a downwardly folded second position against the outer surface of a lower part of the front piece, wherein means are provided for releasably securing a respective side part of the upper edge part of the front piece to a respective adjacent part of the harness in said first and said second positions. The upper edge part of the front piece includes a stiffening that extends from the fold axis in a direction towards the free edge extending generally parallel with sad edge part.

The present invention relates to a baby carrier comprising a carrierharness that is provided with a baby carrying pouch and that includes aflexible sheet-like front piece which has an upper edge portion that canbe folded between a first position in the sheet-like surface of thefront piece and a down-folded second position against the outside of alower part of the front piece about a generally horizontal fold axis,wherein means are provided for releasably fastening a respective sidepart of the upper edge portion of the front piece to a respectiveadjacent part of the harness in both said first and said secondpositions.

The front piece of such baby carriers earlier known in practicecomprises a sheet of plastic foam or the like provided with a cloth orfabric covering, wherewith the front piece is elastically flexible andstrives to adopt a sheet-like state when generally flat. The plasticfoam sheet is resiliently pliable with respect to compression at rightangles to the plane of the surface and also enables the front piece toconform to the shape of the baby carried by the harness to some extent,so as to provide comfort to the baby. In its sheet-like state, the frontpiece will preferably extend upwards to a level at which the edgeportion will support the head of the baby carried in the pouch. Thelateral ends of the upper edge part of the front piece can be releasablyfastened to adjacent parts of the harness itself, both in the upwardlyfolded position of the upper edge part and also in its downwardly foldedposition, possibly to mutually similar fastening points on respectivesides. The inherent spring-like flexibility of the front piece allowsthe front piece to strive towards an upwardly raised state while alsoenabling the upper edge part to be folded down, for instance in order toexpose the head of the baby seated in the pouch. Folding of the upperedge part is established with a generally straight line between thefastening points for the lateral end regions of the upper edge part ofthe front piece. However, in the downwardly folded state of the upperedge part the fold region has a tendency with time to curl or rollupwards, particularly in the midway region of its width. This upwardlywandering effect constitutes a drawback, at least with respect to thebaby. This tendency of a downwardly folded upper edge part to curl orroll upwards appears to be pronounced when the flexible front piece hasbeen given an elastic springiness that tends to impart to the frontpiece the tendency to adopt a sheet-like state.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to prevent upwardcurling or rolling of the central part of the fold region when the upperedge region is folded down, while retaining the inherent tendency of thefront piece to extend the upper edge part to an upstanding position.

This object is fully or partially achieved by means of the presentinvention.

The invention is defined in the accompanying independent claim.

Exemplifying embodiments of the invention will be apparent from theaccompanying dependent claims.

The present invention generally involves providing the upper edge partof the front piece with a stiffening means that extends from the regionof the fold axis in a direction towards the free edge, which isgenerally parallel with said axis. This stiffening of the upper edgepart prevents the “hinged region” of the front piece from beingdisplaced upwards in the midway region of the width of the front piecewhile enabling the desirable properties of the front piece to beretained over a long period.

The fold axis between the upper edge part of the front piece and thelower part of the front piece normally extends horizontally betweenbottom parts of respective side edge recesses in the front piece. Thefront piece is normally provided with releasable fastener elementsbetween respective sides of the front piece immediately beneath the foldaxis and respective nearby parts of the harness. The sides of the upperedge part can normally be connected to releasable fastener means forconnection to nearby parts of the harness, both in the case of theup-folded state of the edge part and its down-folded state. In thisregard, the upper edge part may include fasteners that can be secured toan associated co-acting harness-mounted connecting means regardless ofwhether the front piece is in its up-folded or its down-folded state.This can be achieved by placing the fastening means of the upper edgepart on the fold axis.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 illustrates a baby carrier according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are respectively sectioned views taken on the line II-IIin FIG. 1 showing the baby carrying pouch on the harness front piecerespectively in an upwardly folded and a downwardly folded state of theupper edge part of the front piece.

FIG. 1 illustrates a baby carrier according to WO-03/003880 A1,comprising two chest straps 31 which are intended to extend generallyvertically on a respective side of the wearer's chest. Each chest strap31 extends over a respective shoulder of the wearer and the strapsintersect mutually on the wearer's back. The illustrated baby carrierincludes a fitting 14 which holds together the strap parts 36 mutuallyintersecting on the wearer's back, wherewith a strap portion 37 extendsafter the point of intersection 14 around the wearer's hips and connectswith a connection fitting 11, 11′, to which the lower parts ofrespective chest straps 31 also connect.

The strap portion 37 includes conveniently an adjustment fitting 3 whichenables the length of said strap portion to be easily adjusted.

The connection fitting 11, 11′ may be releasably coupled tocorresponding connection fittings 12, 12′ in a holder 10 which receives,through the medium of a length-adjustment fitting 13, a strip-likecentral lower part 21 of a front piece 22. The front piece 22 maycomprise a flexible piece of cloth or fabric or its like, the inner partof which has a generally triangular shape, wherewith the upper corners25 of the triangle are provided with connectors 41, 41′ which consistessentially of a long downwardly depending finger 43 that can bereceived in a correspondingly deep pocket 32 on respective front straps31 via a respective pocket-inlet opening 33 situated at the top of thepocket such that the front piece will form a safe baby-carrying pouch.

The front piece 22 also includes an upper edge part 122 that can befolded down towards and folded up from the lower part of the front piece22 through the medium of a fold line 124. The front piece 22 includesside recesses 123 at the level of the fold line 124.

An opening for the baby's legs is provided between the chest straps 31on the one hand and the front piece 122 on the other, in the regionbetween the fittings 12, 25; 12′, 75′. The upper edge part 122 may beturned down when the baby is awake. When the baby wishes to rest or togo to sleep, the upper edge part 122 can be folded up and the lateralends 125 of said edge part then connected to lateral ends 125 of nearbyparts of the chest straps 31 with the aid of a releasable two-partcoupling means that has one part 70 connected to the top of the part 125and the other part 80 of which is connected to respective straps 31.

The edge part 122 is flexible, at least in respect of the lateral endpart 125 and with respect to folding of the edge part about the foldline 124. The couplings 70, 80 co-act with the edge part 122 such as toform a head rest for a small and/or sleeping baby.

It will be understood that the strap arrangement 60 can be accessed andmanoeuvred even when the upper edge part 122 is folded down towards thelower portion of the front piece 22, so as to enable the size of theupwardly facing pouch opening to be adjusted if desired.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the coupling typicallyincludes a ring-shaped flat coupling element 70 which can be releasablyconnected by placing it around a post 80.

As a result of this design, the coupling part 70 can be connected to thepost 80 in two positions of rotation that differ through 180° C. aboutan axis of rotation corresponding generally to the horizontal diameterof the ring opening in the coupling part 70. The coupling part 70 ismounted so that it lies in the vicinity of the fold line 124 through thefront piece 22 when said front piece is laid flat. Because the couplingpart 70 is non-rotatably connected to the tips 125 of the upper edge,the coupling device 70, 80 will contribute towards keeping the edge part122 in a downwardly folded state about the line 124. The flexiblespringy elastic front piece 22 has a tendency to allow the upper edgepart 122 to remain in its upwardly folded state shown in FIG. 1, throughthe effect of the intrinsic springiness of said front piece.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is a central horizontal strap arrangement 60′ atthe level of hook fittings 41, 41′, i.e. at the level of the actualupper edge of the carrier pouch. The strap arrangement 60′ enables aselective adjustment to be made to the effective perimeter of the pouchopening at this level.

Alternatively, or additionally, there may be provided at this level astrap arrangement 60″ at one side or at both sides of the front piece,wherein the strap arrangement 60″ can be connected at one end to arespective hook fitting.

The strap arrangements 60′, 60″ correspond to the coupling arrangement60, possibly with the exception of the deformation pattern for thematerial piece between the end parts fastened to the front piece betweenthe coupling arrangement.

It will be seen from FIG. 1 that the parts 125 of the front piece andtherewith the associated bodies 70 extend in different radial directionsto their associated posts, depending on whether or not the upper edgepart 122 of the front piece is folded down. Because the body 70 can befitted to or dismantled from the post 80 regardless of its relativerotational position about said post and regardless of which main surfaceof the body faces towards the root portion of the post, fitting of thebody 70 to the post 80 and dismantling of the body from said post ismade easier.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is a vertically orientated area 22 midway acrossthe width of the front piece 22 and above the fold line 124. This midwayarea 22 is shown to include a stiffening means which in the case of oneexemplifying embodiment has the form of a thin element 223 which extendsbetween the edges 226 of said width midway area. The element ispreferably placed on the outside of the plastic foam sheet 224 of thefront piece, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, although it will preferably beplaced inwardly of a covering layer 225 on the core 224 of the frontpiece.

The element 223 is joined to the front piece by seams along the edges226 and/or is glued and/or welded thereto.

The element 223 extends vertically from the region of the fold line 124in a direction towards the free edge of the foldable part 122 of thefront piece. The element 223 may possibly extend right up to the regionof this free edge, particularly when it is desired to impart stiffnessto the part 122 right up to said free edge.

The stiffening element 223 functions to impede or to preventdisplacement of the fold region, which is defined initially by the foldline 124, in an upward direction. This effect is achieved by virtue ofthe stiffening element imparting to the upper edge part 122 a flexuralrigidity that will not allow such folding to take place under the actionof those forces that act upon the front piece via the fastener fittings40, 41′ and 70 in response to loads exerted thereon by a baby seated inthe pouch.

As an alternative to the described embodiment of the stiffening means,the stiffening means may have the form of relatively narrow stiffeningelements which are located in the region of respective side edges 226,particularly when it is desired to maintain a relatively high degree offlexibility and softness of the foldable part 122 between said widthmid-way edges 226 and also laterally beyond these edges 226, when suchis desirable.

1. A baby carrier comprising a harness (36, 37, 14) which is providedwith a baby carrying pouch (41, 32, 11, 12, 22) and which includes aflexible sheet-like front piece (22) that comprises a springy elasticmaterial(224) provided with a textile covering (225), and that has anupper edge part (122) which can be folded about a generally horizontalfold axis (124) between a first position in the sheet-like surface ofthe front piece and a downwardly folded position towards the outside ofa lower part of the front piece (22), wherein means (70, 80) areprovided for releasably securing a respective side part of the upperedge part (122) of the front piece to a respective adjacent part of theharness in said first and said second positions, characterized in thatthe upper edge part (122) of the front piece includes a stiffening (223)which extends from the fold axis (124) in a direction towards the freeedge generally parallel with said edge part.
 2. A baby carrier accordingto claim 1, characterized in that the stiffening (223) includes asheet-like layer of material that extends over a width-midway region ofthe upper edge part (122) of the front piece.
 3. A baby carrieraccording to claim 1, characterized in that the stiffening (223)includes a pair of generally parallel strips of material that are spacedgenerally equidistantly from a symmetry plane of the sheet-like surfaceof the front piece.
 4. A baby carrier according to claim 1,characterized in that the stiffening (223) extends to the free edge ofthe upper edge part (122).
 5. A baby carrier according to claim 1,characterized in that the stiffening (223) is disposed on the outside ofthe front piece.
 6. A baby carrier according to claim 2, characterizedin that the stiffening (223) extends to the free edge of the upper edgepart (122).
 7. A baby carrier according to claim 3, characterized inthat the stiffening (223) extends to the free edge of the upper edgepart (122).
 8. A baby carrier according to claim 2, characterized inthat the stiffening (223) is disposed on the outside of the front piece.9. A baby carrier according to claim 3, characterized in that thestiffening (223) is disposed on the outside of the front piece.
 10. Ababy carrier according to claim 4, characterized in that the stiffening(223) is disposed on the outside of the front piece.